I think what frustrates people is the fact that WordPress automatic updates don’t work on most development servers? Don’t worry about that. It is actually very easy to update WordPress manually.

The first thing you should do is download the most current version of WordPress here latest WordPress.

Now just to be safe, make a copy of your current WordPress folder on your localhost machine. You then have to copy all of the files and folders (except for the wp-content folder)!!!

Now paste those files and folders into your old WordPress folder. Notice that the wp-config.php file is not in the latest WordPress folder. This file shouldn’t be touched because it contains setup information specific to your WordPress setup.

One of you asked that I provide the following tips to this tutorial – Thanks Mark 🙂

• Make a copy of your old WordPress folder somewhere else (eg on your Desktop) in case something goes wrong

• Download and unzip the latest copy of WordPress into a new folder somewhere

• Copy all the files and folders from this new update folder (except for the wp-content folder). (You will note that the new folder does not have the wp-config.php file. This file, which is in your old folder, should not be touched.)

• Paste these folders and files into your old WordPress folder. Allow Windows to replace any files and folders of the same name. Some old files will be replaced with the new while others such as the wp-config.php file will be untouched.

After you’ve copied everything, go to your admin page in a browser localhost/wordpress/wp-admin for example. When you login you’ll see the following message.

Just click the Update WordPress Database button and wait a few seconds and you’ll see this.

That’s it! Now your version of WordPress is up to date. I hope that helps?

16 Responses to “Update WordPress on Localhost”

I have setup wordpress on linrx.net and the automatic updates work fine however on the debian apache2 localhost where I run my development version it is imperative that I use your suggested procedures above to perform manual updates to my working files which are located behind the firewall away from internet zone.

Happen to drop by your website and found the tutorial useful and as I happen to notice your paypal donate button i may donate a cuppa coffee if you would be kind enough to advise what is your preferred flavour or will standard latte (probably US$5 where I live in Singapore) let me know and thanks for the useful guide

Thank you So much for this wonderful article, It worked like a magic. I was so frustrated with the older version and it was not updating due to fatal errors automatically. It worked and now i have a latest version on localhost.
Thanks a lot!

Many thanks for this. I couldn’t find the solution anywhere else. However, I did find the wording a little difficult to follow as I’m new to the whole thing and wasn’t sure initially if you were suggesting I copy all the files and folders from the new update folder or from the old one I’d just made a copy of. The answer is obvious after the event but can I suggest clarifying the steps a little for the novice?

• Make a copy of your old WordPress folder somewhere else (eg on your Desktop) in case something goes wrong

• Download and unzip the latest copy of WordPress into a new folder somewhere

• Copy all the files and folders from this new update folder (except for the wp-content folder). (You will note that the new folder does not have the wp-config.php file. This file, which is in your old folder, should not be touched.)

• Paste these folders and files into your old WordPress folder. Allow Windows to replace any files and folders of the same name. Some old files will be replaced with the new while others such as the wp-config.php file will be untouched.

I would like to add some thing.
When I updated, the localhost ask me for the wp-config file. The news files that I copied and pasted from the WordPress zip folder, come with the file wp-config-sample. So, I changed the name for wp-config then I just copied the information that is in the old file wp-config (the folder that you said to save)and pasted in the new file wp-config and save.

I hope you can undertand my comment, I am from Mexico and some time my English is not good.

Thanks for this Derek. Your site was a blessing. One question, is there a way that I can automate this like what’s done on my live site? In my case I have to individually download the plugins and themes to my localhost because I can’t update automatically. I’m afraid to look at my apache web server. I use uniserver as my WAMP.